This was on tap during Hop Attack- the release of Kryptonite at Lancaster Iron Hill.

Enjoyed in a small glass on tap.
The color is deep crimson with copper hues and has mild haze with thick ecru cap with tight bead. The smell is nice with a combination of floral and citrus notes with slight fruity yeast easter, but is hop dominated with only a hint of caramel aroma. The feel is good, but more of a balance between hop and malt with moderate bitterness and light sweetness with moderate carbonation and semi-dry finish, the alcohol is restrained.

The taste is good with some nice hop flavor up front which relaxes into a malty middle with some spice and floral hop notes continuing on with some light caramel and toasted grain tinges. The overall impression is a good, but not stellar IPA, nice red ale with some fruity and spicy hops to make a refreshing beer, not a beer designed for hopheads per se.

On tap @ Iron Hill Lancaster on 5/10/12. Served in a 10 oz goblet. New American IPA brewed in honor of the Lancaster Barnstormers baseball team.

Pours a clear copper, with a finger of rich slightly off-white head. This mostly stays robust in the glass, coating the sides with some thick lacing. The aroma smells floral and piney, with notes of green grapefruit and then a stick feeling backing of caramel, bread, and a touch of sweeter tropical fruit which gives this a strong twang in the back of the nose.

The taste is strong bitter grapefruit, resins, and spice which linger well into the finish of this. The malts are equally robust with a caramel backing of sticky sweetness and lightly toasted character. Some strong ripe herbal flavors really start to emerge as this warms. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with an assertive prickly carbonation in the mouth, that while undercut by some slickness that tries to help keep things easy, is overall coming off as a bit too sharp in the mouth. There is some warmth here that adds a touch of boldness to this but otherwise doesn’t inhibit the drinkability much.

This was a borderline aggressive American Amber Ale at times and while I didn’t really mind the crossing of styles per se, it was the overly strong herbal character and prickly feel that helped thrown the balance of flavors here out of whack to the point where I just couldn’t get into this as much as I would have liked. It’s always nice to see a new IPA on tap here but this one didn’t really cut it for me.